freedom

The thorny problem of Cuba, 90 miles from the U.S. coast, refuses to go away. Like it or not, President Bush, like his predecessors, will have to deal with the inherited, persistent problem of the communist Caribbean nation.

It has been said that Fidel Castro's health is not what it has been in the past, that he has been ill. He looks stiff and morose and smiles little. Indeed, the years seem to be taking a toll on the Maximum Leader. It has been rumored even that the U.S. is postponing the impolitic and ill-advised question of lifting the embargo for Castro's successor.

An interesting conversation with a European neurosurgical colleague, who decries the "gun culture" of America, took place that may be of interest to readers of GOPUSA. The dialogue began with a difference of opinion on an unrelated topic, but in the course of that exchange, I happened to innocently use a figure of speech that offended the other party, and the conversation below ensued.

The powerful French Minister Cardinal Richelieu stated, “If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged.” What Richelieu’s statement means is that the State can prosecute or blackmail and force anyone to do its bidding, once that person is targeted by the State for real, imagined, or fabricated offenses.

In a previous article, “European social democracies and gun control,” I wrote that many Americans are extremely naïve when it comes to trusting the government with their liberties. In fact, there is an interesting dichotomy because citizens mistrust the economic acumen of government and don't trust it with their wallets, but it is a different story with personal liberty!

What’s wrong with this picture? I refer to the latest shooting, February 7, in which a 17-year-old man at a Monroeville Pennsylvania mall shot three people. The brief AP story was remarkably shallow and riddled with errors due to media bias. The story went on, "Pennsylvania native and ex-NFL quarterback Terrelle Pryor tweeted Saturday that he was at the mall, when the shooting occurred. 'Damn was just in Monroeville mall and just saw 2 ppl get shot.

Over the years, in both commentaries and letters to the editor in my local newspaper, I have noted the naïve expression of many letter writers and liberal pundits, who glossing over the Constitutional protections guaranteed by the 4th and 5th Amendments, opine, “If you don’t have anything to hide, then you don’t have anything to fear!” When the Soviet KGB needed culprits, their motto was “Show me the man and I will show you his crime.” In other words, charges can be brought against anyone, once the State has decided to trample on the rights of any targeted citizen.

A great many Telegraph posters and avid readers are disappointed and fuming because The Telegraph issued a new directive that henceforth the paper would use Facebook (and not Discus) for online commenting.

Surgical Neurology International publishes a two-part series entitled "America, Guns, and Freedom: A Recapitulation of Liberty" and "Shooting Rampages, Mental Health, and the Sensationalization of Violence."

Open-access journal weighs in on the gun control debate from a neurological perspective

Georg Hegel (1770-1831), the father of dialectical idealism, which Karl Marx transmogrified as Marxist dialectical materialism, lamented that what we do learn from history is that man does not learn its lessons!

KGB — The Secret Work of the Soviet Secret Agents by John Barron (Reader's Digest Press, 1974) is a classic KGB espionage saga set during the Cold War!

This is a seminal book and monumental work on the history, the (then) current methods, organization, goals, of Soviet espionage — i.e., KGB foreign intelligence with its First Chief Directorate — and internal security operations — i.e., the Second Chief Directorate.(1)

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then.

Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States.

— Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principlesof the Federal Constitution, 1787

In the wake of President Barack Obama's re-election on November 6, 2012, and the virtual demoralization of Republicans, it is important to recognize that the political mastery of the left does not last forever. Moreover, three new conservative, pro-Second Amendment senators and several freshmen representatives were elected. A solid Republican majority was preserved in the House of Representatives. So, the election did not mean complete defeat for the GOP.

The need for reducing gun violence is discussed along with the necessity for citizens to assume some responsibility for protecting themselves, their families, and their property from criminal elements because the police cannot physically be everywhere to protect us all of the time. The problem of sensationalization of gun crimes by the media, multiple shootings by deranged individuals, accidents with firearms, suicide rates, and children with guns are discussed.

Miguel Faria, MD, a neurosurgeon and Emeritus Editor of The Journal of The American Physicians and Surgeons, formerly the Medical Sentinel, and Associate Editor-in-Chief of Surgical Neurology International and its World Affairs Section, has written a two‑part Editorial on “America, Guns, and Freedom.” These essays address a very important topic to physicians everywhere, relate to the often, distorted media reports advocating the disarming of citizens, and the costs of health care of guns in the hands of citizens.

The role of gun violence and street crime in the United States and the world is currently a subject of great debate among national and international organizations, including the United Nations. Because the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the individual right of American citizens to own private firearms, availability of firearms is greater in the U.S. than the rest of the world, except perhaps in Israel and Switzerland.

The Founding Fathers of this great nation designed a Republican form of government. By this, they meant a government under the rule of law and not the capricious rule of man, under a written constitution whose main function is to clearly demarcate the limits of authority of the federal government.

This is the story of a liberal Catholic priest who gets mugged with reality when he finds out he's actually a Holocaust orphan survivor. Suddently, his life is turned upside down, but supported by a coterie of old and new friends, he learns the fundamentals of the Jewish faith. He goes on a soul searching trip to the Holy Land, where he figuratively and literally learns of man's God-given right to protect oneself from unimaginable evil acts. His book is highly recommended, as the subtitle stated, "For those who love freedom and for those who should."

The Ballad of Carl Drega by journalist Vin Suprynowicz is an eye-opening book that libertarians and informed conservatives will cheer. His uncompromising stance and indefatigable pursuit of freedom is sure to inflame the minds of those who worship omnipotent government.

Yet despite his passion and stridency, of which he is proud, Suprynowicz wants to ignite the spark of freedom in his readers' hearts, not trap them in polemic argument.

Some say we have a criminal government in America today. Do we have a government, all three branches of which are making a mockery of the three instruments of liberty: the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution? Do American citizens have a God-given, natural right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Is a government-granted right a natural right or is it a largess of plundered property seized by regulatory fiat or administrative law that so often violates constitutional law?

French social critic Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) once said, “The worst thing that can happen to a good cause is not to be skillfully attacked, but to be ineptly defended.”(1) During much of the history of our republic, our intellectuals and those who digest these ideas for consumption by the general public, did a poor job of defending the basic foundations of our freedom. Until the sixties, it was taken for granted that private property, absolute moral principles, and free enterprise were desirable.

At the time of this writing, the President of the United States, Bill Clinton, is applying political pressure to tempt members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate to forsake the rule of law, the foundation of our constitutional republic. Suggestions that charges of perjury, suborning perjury, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering should not be carefully and thoroughly investigated (because of Mr. Clinton’s high job approval ratings) are dangerous.

Something rarely acknowledged but which is basic to a Biblical understanding is the fact that God gives man the freedom to sin. This is something the modern state increasingly denies to us. In one area after another, we are being denied the freedom to do whatever the state sees as sin. At one time, the U.S. by a constitutional amendment denied people the right to drink intoxicating liquors, and we are now nearing a like view of tobacco.

Charles W. Adams, a U.S. tax attorney, states the purpose of his book is to "set taxation apart and bring it into focus as one of the most powerful forces at work structuring society, today as well as in the past." He points out this is a formidable task, that there is no formalized discipline on this subject and this book is "to help fill that void." He starts out with a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes, a well known Supreme Court Justice of the early 20th Century. The quote is over the entrance of the IRS building in Washington, D.C.

Fransini Giraldo is a Colombian girl who dances her own style of Salsa. In this video, she dances to the rhythm of Sonora Carruseles de Colombia, presumably in the Colombia countryside. Published July 16, 2013.